Separator.



No; 837,705. PATENTED DEC. 4, 190's.

0. M. MORSE. SEPARATOR.

APPLIOATION IILED MAB-.6, 1906.

r 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 837,705. PATENTED DEC. 4, 1906.

0. M. MORSE.

SEPARATOR. APPLICATION FILED MAR.6.1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

- vention, which may best 7 time of its entryto UNITED STAMENT OFFICE. oRviLLE M. MORSE, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN.

VSEPARATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Application filed March 6, 1906. Serial No. 304.522.

Patented Dec. 4, 1906.

structure 18 being arranged to be driven M. MORSE, a through the medium of a pulley 19. The fan is arranged to draw air through a se arator- To all whom it may concern: Be it known that 'I, ORVILLE citizenof the United St ates, residing at J ackson, in the county of Jackson and State of casing, Michigan, have invented certain new and rator-casing is so constructed as to provide useful Improvementsin Separators, of which an inlet for material-laden air and without the following is a specification. the path of traverse of the material-laden air My invention relates to separators, andhas through the casing rarefied-air spaces or for one of its objects to provide a separator chambers, suitable means being provided for which will reclaim solid particles of material causing the air in transit through the casing from a conveying air-current and will sepato rotate. a rate the material reclaimed to different In the specific construction shown, 21 ingrades, according to the specific gravity dicates an inlet opening tangentially into a thereof. central enlargement 22 of the'casing 20, such Another salient object of my invention is enlargement being preferably generally cirto provide a machine which will reclaim a form and communicating freely, as maximum percentage of solid particles conthrough apertures 23 in the wall thereof, veyed by the air, including very light partiwith a rarefied-air chamber without the encles, such as the greasy dust encountere largement, shown as a hopper-like strucin flouring-mills, andwhich has heretofore ture 24, having at its base a material-outbeen deemed impossible to separate in an air let 25. machine. 26 and 27 indicate the side To attain these and other objects of my inlargement 22.

become ap arent to aperture 28,- preferably'concentric with the those skilledinthe art from the ollowing casingax1s, wlth which is connected a cylindes'cription, my invention contemplates the drical casin member 29, extending provlsion of a suction apparatus, such as an to" the fan end of t e machine (which I wil hereinexhaust-fan, acting to draw air (laden at the after term its front end) and constituting the separator with matea rarefied-air chamber. The casin 29 has rial to be reclaimed) in whirl or rotation communicating therewith, preferab y at its through a separator wherein are provided lower side, a hopper enlargement 30, termiwithout the path of travel of the flowin air natin at its lower end in a materialoutlet one or more rarefied-air chambers, of w 'ch 31. the wall 27 is provided an aperture one or more open to the whirl area axially or 32, preferably of less dimension than the endwise of the w l and into which the reopening 28 in'wall 26, said opening 32 comclaimable material passes in escapefrom the municating with the casin member 33, which air-stream, thereby purifying the air and remay, if desired, be tapere somewhat and the claiming the solid particles.

rear end of which constitutes a rarefied-air In the drawings I have illustrated an emchamber when the machine is in operation. bodiment of my invention which, among The casing member 33 preferably ens into others, I have found to be practically sucan enlargement 34 of generally one ar form, cessful in operation.

I but extending at its lower side into a hopper In the drawings,Figure 1 is a side elevation 35,*having at its lower extremity a materialof the separator. Fig.1 2 is an end elevation thereof looking from t eright in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a central vertical section therethrough. Fig. 4 is a transverse section on line 4 4 of Fig. 3,. Fi is a similar section on line 5 5 of ig. 3. Fi 6 is aplan view, and Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are etails illustrating a materialtrap which I may employ.

In the drawings, indicates in general a centrifugal exhaust-fan, illustrated as of a well-known type, having in its casing an outlet 16 and an axial inlet or eye 17, the blade l walls of the enoutlet 36. 'It will be understood, however, that both casing members 29 and 33 may be made either slightly coniform or truly cylindricaland that either such casing memb may communicate at its outer end with either an enlargement or an area of uniform diameter therewith, and it will hereinafter become apparent that the ho per-chambers and 35 are but convenient evices for getting collected material out of the way and may be varied in form and construction to suit the requirements of the particular use.

(generally indicated as 20.) T e s'epa- The wall 26 has therein ansuch as. that described wardly-extending wall.

cured the inclined plate is an air-tight flexible tube rides up the incline. Ag 'at 51, normally closes. the -jects which it contacts.

free end of the exhaust-pipe 37 I provide bearing against the" spring-spiders 38 38; sides of the adjacent casing members.

Means are provided. for trapping the reclaimedv material from the several hoppers without admitting air thereto, such means being herein shown .as of suitable character to mamtain separate the grades of material reclaimed in the respective hoppers. Surrounding the aperture 25 in the hopper 24 i 40, open at its lower end. The material-outlets 31 and 36 from the hoppers 3O 35 communicate with a conveyer-casmg 41, air-tight in construction and preferably divided, asv by a'partition 42, into two compartments, wherein are arran ed the oppositely spiral conveyers 43 44, .pre erably mounted on a common shaft and suit. I ably driven. The rear end of the conveyercasing opens into an outlet-duct 45, havin secured thereto anair-tight flexible tube 46, in connection with hop er 24. Other means may, however, be emp oyed for trapping the material out, another form front end of the conve er-casing 41 and comprising the material-c ute .47, havim an up- .48, to who is se.

by the conveyer" 43 atej50, pivoted, as chute 47 and protop ,of the inclined wall 49, with en now suificient ma:

terial is propelled forward by the conveyor material forced forward over the 43, it raises the, trap-gate 50 and falls'in the chute 47, the constant pressure of the screw behind the material packing it forward to I. fill-the spacebetween the, gate 50 and the wall 49, ,so that the structure is maintained substantially air-tight.

For purposes whichI will hereinafter describe have Apertures, as at 54, provided with pivoted covers 55, may also be provided for admitting lar er volumes of air.

t will be understood that the. entire casing structure and its 3 associated parts may .be y a supported in any convenient way, as amework 60,

In Fig.6 I have illustrated a sourceof jmaindicated by terial-supply' at 6 1 and have which I now. believe I,- have of trap beingillustrated .at the the separator at the inlet influence o1? two forces-a centrifugalaction, due to its tangential introduction andinertia, land a centri' of the fan.

49,.[80 disposed thatv preferably provide in the hop er. 24 'regulable air-inlets, and to that end I shown the hopper as apertured at 52 and provided with plugs 53 for closing said apertures.

'yond question by proper vacuum testing 4 The heavy particles of material aving thegreatest specific gravity, itis my of the conve 'ng air flow thely suitable piping 62 that the outlet' 16 of the fan may beconnected with said source of materialsupply, from which extends also the pipe 63 to the inlet of the separator, so that t e same air is used over and over again. It

Wlll be apparent, however, that the fan mi ht exhaust freely and fresh air continua ly drawn-fromthe source of material-supply. l r

For purposes of a clear disclosure of the op eration of my machine I'will describe first the results actually obtained in practice and then'the' action of the'structure and-reasons of my knowledge for suchactions to the. best and belief, although it will be understood that certain of the theories advanced and in not had the facilities for demonstrating scientifically. The

fan 18 when set rotation draws an material-laden into the casing-into the inlet 21 and establishes an air-current flow. through the exhaust-pipe 37 and a vacuum tendencyor rarefied-air condition in the areas of the machine without the path of traverse of the air, the air .in transitthrough the machine bein caused to rotate or whir 'lb gential arrangement oft other. suitable manner. rial particles entering'with the current are deposited in the hopper 24, while in the specific e inlet or any machine illustrated lighter material, or that having less specific gravit is deposited in the hopper 30, and still lighter the greasy dust encountered in flouring-mills, I account for as follows:: The air entering 21 is under the etal tendency, due to the action I awing air from the .separator-.

axis. The resultant movement of the air is, I

believe, a spiral or helical curve toward, the

the .air, then whirling through the axial pipe to the eye of the fainwhence it is discharged through the fan-outlet fan creates without the path of travel of the flowing air-that is to 'say, at both ends of the casingand at the; periphery of the central enlargement thereof-a vacuum tendency or rarefied-air condition of greaterv or less de'- gree. This result aparatus.

belief, are so affected by their tangential entry that their momentum carries them immediately out of the centripetal air-current into the rarefied peripheral chamber 2-2. .Herebeing without the path tom of the hopper through t e openings 23 to be trapped or conve ed out. ofthemachine. Lighter dust partic es, however, have not The heavier mate-1 isjdeposited' in the hopper 36. This action The suction of the I have demonstrated be.

area of. the central fall to the bot- 3 9 means of the tanmaterial, such as sufficient momentum by reason of their low specific gravity to immediately overcome the raft or conveying power of the air-current, pass toward the axis of the machine with the air-current and come into the area of the enlargement 22, alining axially with the rarefied area beyond the larger opening 28-that is to say, in alinement with the rarefied chamber constituting the front end of the machine. Here now a different condition prevails. On the one side toward the front of the machine is an area of low pressure, and from all other sides save that one I believe the pressure upon each dust particle to be substantially equal, so that the dust articles of the medium specific gravity un er consideration are forced, as it were, between the unbalanced pressures and delivered into the area of lesser pressure close at hand. Their momentum and circular path of entry cause them to ass in a spiral course down the casing-wal 29 into the hopper 30, where, being out of any current flow, they fallto the bottom of the hopper to be trapped or conveyedout. Still lighter material particles carried by the aircurrent beyond its peripheral zone of opening 28 pass toward the rear of the machine to reach the mouth of the exhaust-pipe 37. Beyondthe point where the air bends back into the mouth of'the pipe, however, a rarefied area exists, which believe is the area of greatest rarefaction in the machine. Where now the air turns back, this very light dust, too light to be forced into the rarefied area in the casing portion 29, escapes from the aircurrent, as its slight momentum tends to carry it rearward beyond the point where the air turns forward toward the fan, and in addition Furthermore,

the greatest unbalanced pressure condition in the machine reinforces this tendency and furthers its escape from the air-current. Thus I am enabled by my present construction to reclaim a character of material which, it is my belief, has never, been separated from air in any large proportions in a rotating air-machine, and also to secure a uniform and consistent grading of the material deposited in the several rarefied areas of the machine.

I believe and broadly claim that in this separator substantially all of the very light material is reclaimed, and I believe the most efficient construction in this regard to be one involving rarefied-air chambers which communicate with the whirl area in a direction generally axial relative to the whirl, as I have found that the fine dust enters such axially-opening rarefied-air chambers more readily than it does peripheral air-chambers. I have found that in so far as separation is concerned the action appears to be somewhat better by a disposition of the fan which produces in the pipe 37 a whirl in a peripheral direction opppsite to the peripheral direction of the w 'rl caused by the eral purposes.

tangential entry of the air throu h the inlet 21. It will be apparent that w en the peripheral direction of air-flow is thus reversed the air-bodies must at the point of reversal momentarily come to a standstill, so that the difference in pressure existing in the. machine has a maximum opportunity for effecting the expulsion of the material particles from the air. I have found that this theory is borne out in practice by a somewhat-increased efficiency where such an arrangement is employed, but offsetting 'to some degree the increase in efficiency is an increase 111 back ressure, and as the escape of material un er the conditions herein shown and first described is' so slight as to be utterly negligible in practice I deem the arrangement shown to be well suited for gen- The apertures 52 and 54 regulable by their suitable closures are provided in the machine for effecting in a measure a re lation ofthe separation produced. It wilI be apparent that the opening of said apertures provides a secondar source of air-supply, establishing a subordinate air-current drawn upward throughthe apertures 23 to mingle wlth the main current in the central chamber. This arrangement I have found to be efficacious in preventing the heavier dust particles which centrifugally are thrown to the periphery of the central enlargement, from carrying with them into the ho per 24 lighterdust particles which may ten to adhere to the heavier particles, freeing the lighter particles for disposition in their respective chambers, might be omitted, if desired. I

I he action, of the trap at the front end of the conveyer and I will now describe the fabric-tube arrangement illustrated as a means for trapbut such refinement.

has been heretofore described,

roo

ping-the dust from the hopper 24 and the I spout 45; It will be understood that as soon as the machine is set in operation the rarefaction of the air in the hopper 24: and the conveyer-chamber communicatin with the hopper 35 causes the tubes 40 an 46 to collapse, so that their sides meet and form closures for the open ends of the parts to which they are attached, as best illustrated in Fig. 5. When now dust accumulates in the tube, asshown in Fig. 7, the area of contact of the sides is forced downward by the accumulating weight of material thereabove to the position shown in Fig. 8. When sufficient material has accumulated to break by.

its weight the seal effected therebelow by the closing of the fabric, the accumulated materialfalls from the bag, the sides collapsing' above the accumulated material, as shown in Fig, 9. Thus the dust is trapped out of the communicating parts without admittin air thereto. 1

WhiIe I have herein described in some de- I through air is drawn by said exhausting expelled from the air-current, and there be-' ing also tail an embodiment of my machine which I have found to be practical and the detail whereof I may claim, I do not desire to be understood as limiting my invention to'the specific construction shown and. described," as itwill be apparent that numerous changes in the construction and arran ement of parts departure, from might be effected without the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention,'what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat ent of the United States, is

2. In a machine of the character described,

means forexhausting air, a casing wheremeans, and means for causing the air in transit through the casing to rotate, the easing providing an area radially without the area of rotation of the air, having communication therewith to receive material parti= cles centrifugally expelled from the air-current, ,and a rarefied-air chamber without the pathof travel of the air, open to the said path of travel axially of the whirl to receivematerial escaping from' theair-current by reason of the diflerence in pressures between the rarefied are'a'and thearea of air-flow;

3. In a machine of the character described,

a casing rovided with a tangential inlet, an axial out et-pipe extending into the casing, and an air-propelling device connected with the ontlet-' ipe to draw air through the casing whir from the inlet to-the outlet pipe, there being provided in the-casing, peripherally without the path of air-whirl, an area' for the reception of material centrifugally provided, surrounding the outletpipe, a rarefied-air area opening to the whirl area axially of the latter.

4. In a machine of the character described, a casing; an inlet thereto; an apertured, curved wall within the casing arranged to direct material, introduced through the inlet,

- m a curved path and'separating from the axis of the casing a peripheral collectionchamber for the reception of centrifugallyse arated material, said casing including a collection-chamber, opening axially to the area within the aforesaid curved wall, an axial air-outlet from the casing, materialoutlets from the collection chambers, and an air-propelling means arranged to draw air through the casing from the inlet through 1 the air-outlet, and adapted to rarefy air in the, casing without-the path of the flowing,

air, whereby air inflow through the casing is whirled in the.v area within" the apertured, curved wall and the air in the area of the casg axially opening to said whirl area is rarefied.

5. In a machine of the character described, a casing,a tangential inlet thereto, an axial air-outlet, and an air-propelling device connected with theoutlet to draw air in whirl through the casing from the inlet to the outlet, and adapted to rarefy air in the casing withoutthe pathof air-flow, there being provided in the casing an area radially without the air-whirl area, for the reception of centrifugally-expelled material, and there being further provided in the casing a rarefied-air area axially beyond the air-outlet, and opening axially to the air-Whirl area, to receive material escaping axially from said whirl; material-outlets from the material-receiving" areas, and trapping devices'for-permitting the removal of dust from said outlets substantially Without admitting air.

6. In a machine of thecharacter described,

means for exhausting air, a casing where through. air is drawn by said exhausting means having a peripheral inlet and a substantially axial exhaust-outlet, a chamber radially without the path of travel of the r0- tating air, and a chamber opening to the path of the rotating air in a generally axial direction, the opening of the last said chamber being of less diameter than the area into which the air enters from the inlet. I I

'7. In a machineof the character described, having a rarefied-air chamber. means for trapping material out of the rarefied-air chamber substantially without permitting the introductionof air thereto, comprising a collapsible tube flexible throughout its entire perimeter open atone end and at its other end opening to and suspended fro m the material-outlet to be closed. 8." In a machine of the character described, an exhaust-fan, acasing comprising an en larged portionhaving a tangential inlet, a chamber without said enlarged portion opening thereto, to receive material, a'chamber of less diameter than the enlargement, an air-' pipe connected with the eye of "the fan, and arranged to draw air substantially axially from the casing in a path excluding the smaller chamber, whereby the air in said smaller chamber'is rarefied.

9. In a machine of the character described, a casing involving a central chamber having a tangential inlet, and areas axially alining with said central chamber communicating therewith through apertures in the sides of the chamber of less diameter than said chamher, an exhaust-pipe leading from a substan tially'axial position within the casing to the exterior thereof, and means for exhausting air through said pipe. p 5

10.- In a machine of the character described, a casing involving a central chamber having a tangential inlet, and areas axially with sa1d central chamber commutherewith through apertures in the sides 0 the chamber of less diameter than said chamber an axiallyadjustable exhaust-pipe leading from a substantially axial position within the casing to the exterior thereof, and means for exhausting air through said pipe.

11. In a machine. of the 1 character described, a casing, wherethrough air flows, inclosing a central area, and an area axially communicating therewith without the path of air-flow, a tangential inlet to the central nicat' area, a. substantially axial air-exhaust open- Q mg,

and means other than the inlet for admitting regulable quantities of air to the central area; in combination with an air-exhaust device arranged to draw. air from the casing through the axial outlet.

12. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a casing having an inlet arranged to cause ingoing air to whirl in the casin and an air-outlet substantially axial of t e whirl, of an exhausting .chamber, an air-outlet therefrom, exhausting device communicating with the means arranged to draw air in whirl through I the casing, said casing; containing an area inclosed at all points save that toward which it opens to the whirl wherein the air is rarefied by the action of the exhausting means, arranged to be crossed by the escaping air.

13. In a machine of the character described, a casing providing ber, wherein air and materlal may whirl, and providing also areas or the whirl area, opening to said whirl area axially of the whirl at opposite ends, normally closed dust-outlets from the last said areas or chambers, an air-inlet to the central and an airair-outlet adapted to draw air through the casing from its inlet to its air-outlet, and to' rarefy the air in the end chambers axially without the Whirl.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

' ORVILLE MFMORSE.

In presence of a WILLIAM B. Kmcxnnnooirnn,

JonN L. BENTLEY.

chambers without a central cham 

